More than 7 million deaths occur every year due to tobacco use (1). Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths in the US, of which more than 41,000 deaths are due to secondhand smoking.
What is alarming is that if there is no change in the smoking patterns, more than 8 million people all over the world will die from tobacco-related diseases by 2030!
Smoking can have dangerous consequences on one’s health and well-being. It can damage your cells and also increase your risk of developing life-threatening diseases like cancer.
You must have come across many individuals wanting to quit smoking but not being able to. While some of them are too addicted, a few others feel it might be too late to quit. Here’s a timeline to motivate you to kick the butt. It explains how your body heals the moment you give up smoking, and in the years to come. Scroll down and get started.
What is alarming is that if there is no change in the smoking patterns, more than 8 million people all over the world will die from tobacco-related diseases by 2030!
Smoking can have dangerous consequences on one’s health and well-being. It can damage your cells and also increase your risk of developing life-threatening diseases like cancer.
You must have come across many individuals wanting to quit smoking but not being able to. While some of them are too addicted, a few others feel it might be too late to quit. Here’s a timeline to motivate you to kick the butt. It explains how your body heals the moment you give up smoking, and in the years to come. Scroll down and get started.
Timeline – What Happens To Your Body When You Quit Smoking?
20 Minutes
Your blood pressure and pulse begin to drop back to normal (2). Your hands and feet also return to their normal temperature.8 Hours
24 Hours
People who smoke about one pack of cigarettes a day are twice as likely to get a heart attack as nonsmokers. After an entire day of not smoking, your risk of getting a heart attack begins to decrease (4). In this short period, the oxygen levels also rise, thereby making physical activity and exercising easier.48 Hours
Treat yourself to your favorite dish or candy after two days of not smoking. By this time, your senses of smell and taste may have become a lot sharper as your nerve endings begin healing (5). There is also a lot of clean up that happens during this period. Your lungs start kicking out excess mucus and other gunk that may be left behind from the cigarettes. At this point, there are no more nicotine residues in your body.72 Hours
At the end of three days (72 hours), your lungs recover significantly (6). Breathing also becomes easier, and, as a result, you will have more energy.One Week
Once a smoker has crossed the one-week milestone without smoking, they are nine times more likely to quit smoking in the long term. If you have made it to a week, you can make it to a lifetime.Two Weeks
In two weeks, you will notice that you can breathe a lot easier, thanks to your improving pulmonary (lung) health due to increased oxygenation and circulation (6).One Month
One of the main changes that you experience after a month of smoking cessation is a sense of heightened energy (7). You will also notice a reduction in many smoking-related symptoms, like nasal/chest congestion and shortness of breath during exercise.Three Months
In the next three months, circulation continues to improve, and so does your physical health. It can also decrease your risk of premature delivery (8).Six Months
After six months of not smoking, you will notice that you can handle stressful situations a lot more easily without feeling the urge to smoke. You will also see that you are coughing up less mucus and phlegm as compared to before, which indicates reduced lung inflammation (9).One Year
A year later, your lungs would have experienced dramatic improvement, both in terms of capacity as well as functioning. Long-term quitters also report much less craving and withdrawal symptoms (10). You would have also saved a lot of money in a year, which would have been spent on cigarettes.Three Years
After three years of abstinence from smoking, your risk of heart attack will have reduced to that of a nonsmoker (11).Five Years
In three to five years of smoking cessation, a smoker’s overall survival rate, along with their mortality rate following a heart attack, reduces by half (11). The risk of mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder cancers also reduces by half.10 Years
In a decade, your risk of dying from lung cancer becomes equal to that of a nonsmoker. Your risk of developing lung cancer also reduces by 30-50%, as compared to continuing smokers (12). The precancerous cells in your body will be replaced with healthy cells by now.15 Years
After 15 years, your risk of getting any cardiovascular disease is similar to that of a nonsmoker (13). By now, your body would have undergone a lot of recovery and healing to eliminate the aftermath of smoking.Conclusion
Quitting smoking can have long-term benefits for your health. Your risk of high blood pressure, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and pulmonary diseases will begin to decrease. While this may take a few years, each year of going without smoking improves your overall health.The time to quit is now. Approach your family and friends to support you to lead a healthier, smoke-free life.
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